Which pleases God more? To work one’s way up the ladder of success, eventually reaching leadership positions where one has great influence for Christ over an organization or a government; or, to spend one’s life without upward mobility, living in the same place, working at the same job (or no job outside the home) and raising a family and supplying its needs, seeking to be an example to friends and neighbors?

The only answer I can think of for that question is, “Lord, Thou knowest.” God gives each of us a purpose in His kingdom, noble simply because it is from Him and for Him. That doesn’t make one’s calling easy, and it may not be well noticed or appreciated.

I think that way when I think about evangelism and home missions. When we hear the big-picture reports, they are often tremendously encouraging. We see positive trends—more conversions, more members, more churches, more areas of the country. Old congregations and new congregations alike are exploring new work in multiple locations. God is raising up new leaders to meet the needs in those new places.

Behind every big-picture report, though, are a lot of regular- sized people dealing with very real challenges. Many old and new churches wrestle with being just above critical mass, where they are barely able to support the work. The arrival or departure of just one person or family can be monumental. The desire to see a soul enter the kingdom may mean years of investment in many different lives, with the correllary dangers and discouragements. The goal of seeing one’s children (and the congregation’s children) nurtured in Christ means day-today sacrifice, perseverance, and trying to rejoice in very small successes.

If you’re willing to be used by God in these foundational ways, though, the need has never been greater, and the opportunities have never been more plentiful. Perhaps it is viewing life with a glass-half-full perspective, but what a blessing it is to know that, whether we live in a tiny town or a giant metropolis, we are seconds away from an encounter with someone who needs to know Christ, needs to know His gospel and His care.

About 90 percent of the people I’ve talked with outside my church context either don’t know the gospel or can’t give a credible testimony of the true gospel. They are weighed down by sin, led astray by poor teaching, blinded by worldliness. They are churchgoers, atheists, agnostics, secularists, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses. They live a house or two away from you, work in the next cubicle, and use the same blog site on the internet.

Is North America a lost cause, or a land of opportunity? The best way to answer that might be to get back to God’s calling on you as enlightened by the Scriptures you read. It’s tough work, gritty work, requiring endurance and courage. But the harvest has never been whiter. And the big picture has never looked brighter.